Faith

Night finally fell, and Misato Katsuragi's battle plan was being carried out at full speed.

"The enemy's leading edge has breached Armor Layer 17. Estimated time until it reaches NERV Headquarters: four hours, fifty-five minutes."

"The Nishihako branch line and Ogasawara Line 3 in the southern islands have been powered up."

"Roger. The electrical transformation equipment in Sector 16 is now passing through the installation plant... Initial setup of the standard 500,000-volt transformers is proceeding as planned. No changes to the schedule."

At NERV's Second Fortress, remote surveillance was monitoring the Sixth Angel above Tokyo-3. Even viewed from a distance, that enormous figure exerted a pressure that left people struggling to breathe.

It looked like a towering mountain, but was in fact a heavily armed flying fortress. It hovered silently in the air, with only its rainbow-colored spiral turning ceaselessly.

Still, the Sixth Angel seemed unconcerned as long as humans merely watched it from afar.

Ramiel had a very clear objective: whatever lay hidden beneath NERV.

The Angels themselves bore no resentment or hostility toward creatures like humans, much less any deliberate intent to kill them.

Everything they killed was like the ants humans might tread on while walking down a road, never sparing a thought for what lay beneath their feet.

Ramiel only wanted to reach the end of that road, and likewise cared nothing about whether it accidentally crushed a few humans along the way.

Thus, it paid no attention to either the trains steadily gathering in the distance or the vast quantities of newly laid cable linking every part of the country.

Even so, humanity dared not let its guard down. Large numbers of armored vehicles and aircraft remained deployed nearby.

At the United Nations' request, and out of concern for its own national security, the Japanese government committed the resources of the entire nation to supporting NERV's operation. They would pit the strength of a whole country against Ramiel.

Unit-01 and Unit-00 were transported to the Second Fortress, a surface stronghold beyond Ramiel's attack range.

Standing beside an enormous cannon shaped like a sniper rifle, Ritsuko Akagi explained Misato Katsuragi's proposed tactics to Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami, along with the weapon that would secure victory in this operation.

"The Positron Cannon uses positrons as ammunition. When they react with electrons in the matter composing the target, they annihilate each other and are converted into light, energy, and gamma rays. This collapses atomic structures and releases vast amounts of energy to destroy the target."

"The most important part of this operation is getting Ramiel to expose its core. Unit-01 has an advantage in combat over the damaged Unit-00. Of course, the ideal outcome would be not needing Unit-01 to engage at all, while the damaged Unit-00 only has to seize the right moment to destroy the core with the Positron Cannon."

"Understood, Rei? Because of the effects of Earth's rotation, magnetic field, and gravity, the Positron Cannon cannot fire in a straight line. But don't worry. The Magi System will assist with aiming. All you need to do is land this shot squarely on the organ that serves as its core."

"I don't know... where the core is." Rei Ayanami frowned.

Both Ritsuko Akagi and Misato Katsuragi were taken aback. They exchanged a glance, each reading the other's expression. This girl had actually frowned!

"There is a part inside the Sixth Angel that only materializes when it assumes its attack form. We believe that is the core. We'll handle the data needed to determine the sniping position, guide the shot, and so on."

Though surprised, Ritsuko Akagi did not dwell on a trivial matter like "why someone would frown." For a human, that sort of thing seemed perfectly normal.

Simply put, Unit-00 was only responsible for firing. The United Nations Forces and Unit-01 would lure the enemy out, while the Magi System and the entire technical department would provide all other technical support.

"Shinji, be careful. Even if you have to fight, remember that your objective isn't to kill Ramiel. Keep yourself safe." Beside him, Misato Katsuragi spoke gravely.

Even knowing Shinji Ikari's strength, Misato Katsuragi still had a thousand things she wanted to remind him of. Or perhaps she simply wanted some reassurance.

She could not remember when her adjutant, Shigeru Aoba, had told her that people lived to find peace of mind.

When Shinji Ikari was beside her, she felt at ease.

Shinji Ikari turned and looked at Misato Katsuragi beside him, wearing his usual smile.

"No enemy can stand before us!"

"I believe in you. Put on a good show, and I'll go back and spread the word about our Child of God's divine might."

"My story really does deserve to be spread." Shinji Ikari spoke meaningfully.

"How did I never notice how much you love the spotlight?" Misato Katsuragi said with exasperation.

She had only been offering her usual words of encouragement to a hero heading into battle, but he certainly had no intention of being modest.

"Humanity needs a savior, and God now needs humanity." Shinji Ikari lowered his eyes as he spoke, then raised his head to meet Misato Katsuragi's gaze. "Then let humanity put its faith in me. I will become its savior!"

"You aren't serious, are you, O Child of God?" Misato Katsuragi seemed to detect something unusual in his words.

Shinji Ikari said nothing. He merely looked at her, and those eyes that never shied away seemed to give her the answer.

Unit-01 and Unit-00 arrived at the Second Fortress ahead of their two pilots.

Ramiel possessed the ability to eliminate hostile targets within a certain radius. Within that range, no matter where an EVA entered the field, it would be one step behind.

Therefore, Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami would pilot their EVAs into battle directly from the Second Fortress.

It was nearing midnight, and preparations were essentially complete. Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami entered the temporary changing room reserved for the pilots.

Calling it a changing room was generous. It was really just a small room hastily fashioned from a shipping container and divided by a thin curtain.

The lighting inside the container was bright. Shinji Ikari could even see Rei Ayanami's clearly defined silhouette cast against the curtain.

Discarded clothes lay scattered across the floor, including both things people could see and things they were not supposed to.

When she came back to change after the battle, she would have to pick them up one by one. This girl really could not look after herself at all.

In truth, Shinji Ikari thought hanging up that scrap of cloth was entirely unnecessary. He had already seen her in her purest, most unblemished form.

As for himself... there was nothing shameful about the body of a god.

Dressed in their combat suits, the two emerged from opposite ends of the container and stepped onto two surface lift platforms.

The two giants, Unit-01 and Unit-00, lay flat on the ground. Shinji Ikari rested his hands on the railing. Quite a few people stood below looking up at him, as though gazing upon a god.

Although the senior leadership was always spouting cryptic, mystical nonsense, most people in the organization were actually atheists. At first, they had little interest in Shinji Ikari's religious spiel.

But his outstanding results in every simulation, followed by two consecutive victories against the Angels, had begun to lend his words a different significance in many people's hearts.

Perhaps fate really did exist. People could not help beginning to think that way. Otherwise, how could someone like him have appeared just as humanity faced extinction-a savior who seemed to embody hope itself?